Detected Malware Issue

Some of you may be experiencing the above error message while browsing our site on Chrome. I’ve gotten the same message and blocked the URL on our ad network. I’ve also informed our advertisers of the issue to make sure that they aren’t publishing any malware ads on our site.

We’ve talked to the developer who ran our site through AVG’s Threat Labs which shows our site as currently safe.

At this point, we’re not sure what the issue is but we’re working on investigating and correcting it.

[Update] There’s currently a forum on Google in regards to the error message, so we’re not the only site dealing with this.

[Update] I did some further investigation and found out that a Silicon Valley advertising company, Netseer, had its website hacked, resulting in Chrome users across the board experiencing this error on several different websites, including the Mercury News. One report states:

According to Twitter users, sites such as The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and many others were being blocked by Google’s (GOOG) Chrome browser with warnings about possible malware emanating from Netseer.

A spokesperson for the company issued the following statement:

This morning at approximately 5:30am Pacific time, our third-party hosted corporate website (netseer.com) was hacked and infected with malware. Consequently, Google added our domain to the list of malware affected website. Our operations team went into all-hands-on-deck mode and we have successfully cleaned the site of the malware issue

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About The Author

nonerkylie
Nona and Kylie are butt-kicking web mods who are dedicated to curating the finest internet content.

SumAnon

FireFox aint got no problem

Rizz Rustbolt

Nor does Palemoon.

Derpy

This is why so many people have to resort to using No-SCript and adblocker. I feel bad for using it myself on websites that actually need the hits, but as long as you can get malware and keyloggers from adverts I’m going to have to keep it on always. :/

So basically, the process works by taking out a piece of paper and closing my eyes and picking at random.

Hah. No, actually…there are lots of ad networks out there, and it’s really hard to find which ones will work best for our site. I dislike Google because they tend to use a lot of spammy ads, and base your earnings off CTR (click-through rate). I’ve found a couple of good networks who base earnings of impressions (eCPM) and pay out accordingly. Typically works better with our audience because we’re not a ‘niche’ site (blogging about, say… barbecuing all day so ads would typically be catered toward BBQ audience) and because our users aren’t as prone to click ads since we’re more of a recreational site.

I really have no idea what I’m doing, so it’s been a guessing game for the most part.

-KT

Derpy

Hmm I made a reply but it didn’t seem to go through… Just wanted to mention that my message was intended towards the internet as whole, not you guys in particular. I really super appreciate that you guys are doing your best in choosing the right ad network, but I will be forever paranoid.

I remember getting virus’d from the ads on IAB. Yeahh that site sucks.